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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs forming puffs of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of unusual events here go back a long time – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, addressing his guest with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for approval to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section containing locally rare specific tree species, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, encouraging the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide tells various traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account describes a little girl disappearing during a family outing, then to return five years later with no recollection of what had happened, having not aged a day, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts describe smartphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim observing strange rashes on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are trees whose trunks are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radioactivity in the soil cause their unusual development.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO photographs, he gives his guest an EMF meter which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which fuels fantasy, where the border is indistinct between fact and folklore. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for reasons nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius comments, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."